MILWAUKEE -- Once Milwaukee Bucks' 7-footer Andrew Bogut found his shooting rhythm after the opening three minutes Wednesday night, New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor struggled the rest of the way.

Jeffrey Phelps / The Associated PressMilwaukee center Andrew Bogut gets free underneath the basket against the Hornets’ Emeka Okafor to score on his way to 26 points in the Bucks’ 115-95 victory Wednesday night.Relying mostly on post moves, Bogut scored a game-high 26 points to carry the Bucks to a 115-95 victory in front of 11,936 at the Bradley Center.

Exposing the Hornets' interior defensive problems, the Bucks outscored the Hornets 72-38 on points in the lane. In the first half, behind Bogut's 16 points, 42 of the Bucks' 61 points came on putbacks, dunks and layups.

"They were zipping, cutting and passing, " Okafor said. "Everybody touched the ball and it was hard to keep up with. He (Bogut) was strong and had good post moves and good touches. He was energetic and he really helped them out."

It was the Bucks' first victory against New Orleans (30-28) in nine games. Milwaukee (28-28) extended its winning streak to four. Unlike Tuesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when the Hornets held a lead late in the fourth quarter, they trailed by 19 points in the third quarter against the Bucks.

And the Hornets' defensive problems overshadowed another standout performance from rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton, who finished with a team-high 25 points coming off the bench.

Thornton scored 37 on Tuesday night, which included a franchise-record 23 points in the second quarter. Thornton played an extended 41 minutes because starting veteran shooting guard Morris Peterson went down in the first quarter with a strained left hamstring and did not return.

The Bucks made 52.2 percent of their shots from the field and outrebounded the Hornets 48-39. Bogut clearly was the most dominant big man on the floor. He grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and had two blocks.

"Shots were just falling for me and I got some offensive rebounds, " said Bogut, who made 13 of 20 shots from the field. "When I start out games trying to hit the offensive boards and get some easy baskets, it definitely helps the confidence."

After the Bucks took a 61-55 halftime lead, the Hornets' defense was dismantled in the third quarter when they were outscored 28-17. Milwaukee opened the quarter on a 13-4 spurt that led to a 74-59 lead.

"They got off to a strong start with Bogut's post-ups and offensive rebounds, " Hornets Coach Jeff Bower said. "Then their driving game really puts us in a bad place. We never got a handle on the game defensively from the start. We really struggled to get stops."

Allowing opponents to shoot at high percentages has been a reoccurring problem for the Hornets. They entered against the Bucks allowing the fifth-highest shooting percentage in the league at 47.2.

In Tuesday night's 105-95 loss, Cleveland made 48.8 percent of its shots from the field. The Bucks shot at 50 percent or better for the entire game.

In the first half, Milwaukee made 55.3 percent of its shots. The Hornets gave up too many open drives to the basket. Guard John Salmons, acquired recently in a trade with the Chicago Bulls, scored 18 points. Forward Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench and had 13. Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, who scored 55 points in a game earlier this season, finished with nine points and had four assists.

"They ran their plays with perfection, " said Hornets rookie point guard Darren Collison, who scored 22 points and had nine assists. "These are the games we have to come back and fight as a team. We should have been rallying more as a team, but it's over now, so on to the next one. It's important for us to regroup."

Before starting their two-game road trip, the Hornets were a game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Suffering back-to-back losses, the ninth-seeded Hornets have slipped to three games behind the Trail Blazers.

"There's nothing we can do about it but shake this one off and come back Friday (against Orlando) ready to play, " Thornton said. "But they did whatever they wanted to do. They had 72 points in the paint. That's unacceptable for this team."

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John Reid can be reached at jreid@timespicayune.com or at 504.826-3407.